Chapter 30: The Arcanum Academy of Arcane Arts and Swordsmanship.
The Arcanum.
Or as everyone recognized it, the greatest academy across the three known continents, situated within the First Ring of the Great Sea.
But it wasn’t merely an academy.
It was the symbol of peace between the three continents of Veloria, Kharos and Sylvara.
Long ago, the three continents had been locked in a bloody war, fighting for the supremacy of their own selfish and arrogantly self-righteous Gods.
Then a catastrophic sentient beast emerged from the depths of the Great Sea. Its strength was enough to make even those at the Transcendent Rank think twice before provoking it and before long, the Gods afraid of losing their followers uselessly, finally interfered and declared an end to the war.
The creature, having lived for millennia, proposed the creation of an academy upon neutral ground where the nobles of all three continents would gather to cultivate goodwill toward one another so that such a war would never happen again.
It also proposed that each continent send its most talented youths.
But where could such neutral land possibly exist?
So the creature, a Leviathan nearly as massive as a city of millions, offered its own body for the sake of peace.
Nyxara Arcanum.
That was the Leviathan’s name.
And an entire academic city was built upon her back as she endlessly drifted across the surface of the Great Sea, circling the three continents throughout the year while carrying generations of students.
Even today, after thousands of years, she still carried out her duty of bearing the academy city upon her back as she drifted across the Great Sea.
Named in her honor, it became the Arcanum Academy of Arcane Arts and Swordsmanship, a place where nobles and gifted commoners gathered for years to build friendships...
...and also the place where I was currently headed and also where the only entrance to the Forbidden Ruins existed.
It had barely been a half an hour since we had departed from the Ruinbringer Estate.
Cedric had been bawling his eyes out, talking about how he would join me next year, while Amyra had also been there, telling me that she would meet me back at the academy in a month since she was already a second-year student and had only returned home because of the holidays.
Isolde, that annoying woman, hadn’t shown herself directly but I had caught sight of her silhouette through one of the estate windows, watching me before immediately turning away the moment our eyes met.
The poor woman had a more conflicted mind than an ant about to be stepped on by an elephant.
After saying a proper goodbye to Cedric and Amyra, I left the Ruinbringer Estate along with Liana and the four knights tasked with escorting me safely to the academy.
We used the estate’s teleportation gate to travel thousands of kilometers south of Ruinbringer territory, arriving in the domain of the Wavecrest Ducal Family, rulers descended from an ancient race of mermen, before boarding an Air Carrier bound for the Arcanum, which would be drifting somewhere near that region at this time of year.
The last stretch of the journey had been the most boring part, though it was understandable. Because of the Arcanum’s ever-changing location, teleportation gates simply couldn’t be established there.
I let out another sigh.
It was already the third one in the last half hour. Mostly because I was bored... And for some reason, something felt incredibly wrong.
It was as though I had forgotten something truly important.
Unable to endure the boredom any longer, I stepped out of my private room within the Air Carrier. Right outside, the four knights assigned to me stood rigidly. The moment they saw me, they bowed before silently falling in behind me.
Liana joined them, but unlike the knights, whose expressions never changed, her eyes wandered excitedly across everything around her.
Having grown up in that cold estate and learned to become a perfect maid almost as soon as she could walk, this was the first time she had ever left it.
I paid her no mind and continued walking until I arrived at the carrier’s central lobby.
Many people had already gathered there.
Most were young nobles from different families of the Holy Empire, heading toward the Arcanum a month early to forge connections before the academy officially opened.
The moment I appeared, many immediately shifted.
Some stiffened where they stood.
Others approached with practiced smiles.
"..."
But even as I ordered my knights to keep the useless crowd away from me... Something felt wrong. Every step, every breath, every thought felt strangely alien and heavier than usual. It was like a deja vu as if I had done something eerily similar before.
I walked toward the window and sat down on the couch beside it while Liana and the knights silently took their positions around me.
I stared outside through the transparent glass window covered softly in mist. Seconds passed and then minutes but just as I was preparing to get up and leave...
Words slowly began to appear across the mist-covered window.
[Wake up. If you don’t remember writing this... you’re already in it.]
Only when I read them did I finally understand the reason behind the strange heaviness in my mind. The reason these thoughts had refused to leave me as a smile slowly spread across my face.
I rose from the couch, lifted my head toward the ceiling of the carrier and shouted.
"How long do you intend to keep playing games with me, huh?"
My voice echoed through the entire carrier as every passenger turned toward me in surprise.
Liana even hurried over, a trace of worry appearing on her usually composed face.
"Young Master... are you alright? You’ve been acting strangely ever since we left the estate."
I didn’t spare her a glance and instead looked back at the ceiling.
"How about you stop playing these games? I believe I have already told you why I am here." My smile widened. "So stop hiding and reveal yourself already... "
Nothing happened for a few moments.
"...or should I remind you of the promise... and the oath you made?"
The moment those words left my mouth, everything around me began to distort. The faces of the knights, Liana and even the Air Carrier itself dissolved like ink before a pale blue floor revealed itself beneath them, swallowing the blackened fragments whole.
Within seconds, the entire world had melted away and I found myself standing in a vast, lightless space.
Then...
A figure stepped out of the darkness.
She had pure golden-blonde hair, crimson eyes and lips as red as cherries. She was wearing the familiar off-shoulder dress with red ribbon, she always wore.
I recognised that face immediately.
How could I not?
It was the face of the woman I had wanted to see more than anyone else in this life. It was the face of the woman I had loved in my previous life.
And...
The face of the one I had promised to save in this life.
"Lily..."
***
